Airbag arrangements, having an airbag and a gas generator, which is ignited during an accident in order to expand the airbag have been employed in motor vehicles for many years. Folded up tightly, the airbag is accommodated in a housing through which it bursts open by expansion when operated. Generally speaking, folding up the airbag again after use and replacing it in the housing is generally not possible so that even if the fabric of the airbag is not overused through the impact of a person and still intact, the complete airbag arrangement has to be exchanged at great expenditure.
It would be desirable, per se, to have an airbag arrangement in which the airbag is able to return into its installation space after an expansion. It would be conceivable to produce such an airbag from a rubber-elastic membrane instead of from a non-stretchable fabric as is conventionally the case, which re-contracts after an expansion, returning to its rest configuration. A problem of such a rubber-elastic membrane however is that when a person impacts a part of the membrane, the gas enclosed by the membrane can give way in that it further inflates a part of the membrane that is not obstructed in its stretching by the contact with the person. This can substantially impair the deceleration effect of the airbag arrangement.
From DE 10 2010 062 088 A1 an airbag arrangement is known, in which a part of the airbag membrane, on which a head impact is expected, is stretchable in order to be able to protectively catch the head. This stretchable region however forms only a small part of the airbag. The non-stretchable remainder cannot contribute to the airbag again returning into its rest configuration after an expansion. Neither is there any indication that the stretching of this stretchable region is reversible. A return of the airbag into its rest configuration is therefore not possible here either.
At least one object herein is to create a protective device having a gas generator and a chamber that can be expanded through the gas generator, which after an expansion of the chamber can return to its starting configuration and in which the risk that the gas of the chamber gives way to an impact is avoided. In addition, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.